Here’s What Your Favorite Stars Charge for Autographs at Conventions

This weekend, Long Island’s NYCB Live at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum hosts Ace Comic Con, three days celebrating comics, movies, and television shows with “artist master classes” and “30+ hours of programming.” There are also special guests, and the chance to get autographs. Those will cost you though, sometimes upwards of hundreds of dollars depending on whose signature you’re looking to collect.

In recent years, comic-book conventions have become big business for movie and TV stars, who charge their fans top dollar for the opportunity to get a signature or a photograph. As chronicled in 2016 by the Hollywood Reporter, it’s “not uncommon for a star to earn anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 on top of their guarantee” (which is generally another $5,000 to $10,000) just for showing up. If you find a star in the wild and convince them to pose for a selfie, that’s free. If you want a ticket to get your photo taken with my man Jason Momoa in Long Island this weekend, that will cost you $85.

Back in my obsessive convention-attending days, things were way more relaxed. Big-name movie stars didn’t show up, except maybe for a panel, and they certainly weren’t charging $100 or more for signatures or pictures. It’s a little disillusioning to see that, but it’s worth acknowledging how many of those signatures are going to wind up being resold on eBay or elsewhere. If people are profiting off these stars, it may as well be the stars themselves. If people weren’t willing to pay, they’d ask for less. Here’s a list of 20 of your favorite stars from the world of nerdery and their asking price for autographs.